Mad Mail: Will the Fed Raise Rates?

Dear Cramer: Booyah! I've been hearing talk on your network (is there any other?) about the possibility of the Fed raising rates this year…what should we do in preparation? --Lance

Cramers says: "I don't think that's in the cards. There are too many issues. If we ever started raising rates, then what you would want to do is own the banks stocks. They've historically done well when we've had that particular environment."

____

Dear Jim: In a recent livestock report from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange it says, "The shift in the US import/export meat trade with the rest of the world has led to a shortage of refrigerated containers required to ship U.S. meat products." Is there a way to play the shortage of refrigerated containers? --Kern

Cramers says: "I think there is. The company happens to be a new-technology company that's in transition because of some acquisitions it made. It's called Ingersoll-Rand. We used to like it very much. It had a big run. We're debating it now. It has the ThermoKing division, which is the world's largest refridgerated containing truck unit. And ThermoKing is really well run. Is that enough to be able to make you buy IR? Well, it's enough to make you start the homework. Because we believe in buy and homework on Mad Money."

____

Booyah Jim!: I'm confused about the current relationship between oil and natural gas. When oil comes down, does gas always come down with it? You are my homegamer hero - Buffett's got nothin' on you! --Laura

Cramer says: "First, Laura, let me address the latter point. Warren Buffett's the best there's even been. I'm happy to be mentioned, let's say, in the same planet, but certainly not the same paragraph [as him]." Oil and natural gas are substitute fuels, so usually there's more demand for nat gas when oil goes up. Therefore nat gas's price also goes up. When oil comes down in price, people switch back to oil, again bringing down the price of natural gas.

____Booyah!: I am concerned about First Solar. In your analysis you said it might benefit because it does not use the costly silicon for solar-panel production. FSLR does use tellurium. I understand this commodity is coming under pressure, as it is more rare than gold and platinum. Please let me know if this might hurt FSLR's bottom line. --Bruce

Cramers says: "I checked with FSLR. They are locked in. They've got good prices on this material. There may be other reasons not to like First Solar, but it's not yours."

____

Dear Jim: Thank you for inspiring and educating us. We appreciate the honesty and hard work you put forth day in and day out. With the price of oil out of control, why isn't anyone talking about hydrogen and the fuel-cell energy? Can you please tell us the major obstacles that hydrogen and fuel-cell energy are facing? --Mike in Florida

Cramer says: "Unless you have a Manhattan Project for fuel cell and hydrogen, where the government commits an unlimited amount of money to it instead of a paltry amount, you're not going to get the incentives." Germany threw all its weight behind solar power, subsidizing companies in the process to ensure success. American hydrogen and fuel-cell companies need the same level of support if they're really going to get off the ground.